Discovering a Forgotten Past
by Crystal 700
Summary: So Marsha's in America and having problems so she calls on the help of her friends back in Japan. No one knows what to expect as they go over for what seems to be a simple case but may reveal more than they ever thought.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi Crystal700 here. I just wanted to say that I'm editing the story starting with chapter one and going on from there. A lot of things are different but you may recognize some things. Anyway I hope you enjoy. **

It was a normal night at SPR's office. Mai was sitting at her desk filing paperwork and fielding phone calls while her three bosses went over different case studies and possible job opportunities. Mai was tapping a pen on the desk as she read over an old file. As she read the accounts she ran her fingers through the fur from the black cat sitting in her lap.

Lifting her head to check the time she saw it was 10:30. She groaned as she lay her head back down and looked over at her array of photographs on her desk. One was her parents wedding photo, another one with all her friends, a third one of her and her boyfriend, and the last a picture of her and her best friend. The blonde had her arm slung around Mai's shoulder with a smile while Mai flipped the camera a peace sign.

She missed Marsha terribly; it'd been a month and a half since they last heard from her. She'd realized the girl had left her phone with everyone's information in a bag that'd been left behind. Without an address to send it to or another number everyone was left to wonder if she was alright. Did she find out who she was? Could she be in trouble?

She sighed again. It was no use to worry; there wasn't anything to do about it. Not that it stopped anyone from trying to contact her.

_I hope she's okay._

"-ai, Mai, Mai!" a voice called into her ear making her jump up startling the cat.

"Finally!"

She turned her head up to see Lin, Naru, and Gene staring down at her.

"Mai get your coat we're going home." Naru announced.

She nodded her head as she placed Shadow on the desk where he sat down and stared intently at Gene who gulped and slinked a good distance away. Naru shook his head as Mai came back around with the tan overcoat wrapped around her. Picking up the cat she followed Lin out to the car.

Along with Marsha's disappearance Mai was made to stay with them. It's not that she minded, too much, but she liked her old work hours not the new ones set by her insomniac boyfriend. Falling against the window she stared outside as her personnel heater got comfortable on her lap.

After about twenty minutes they pulled into a two story condo. Mai didn't stop to remove her coat until she was in her room. Putting Shadow in his bed she flung it on the floor before stripping down and donning one of Marsha's old tee's and a pair of shorts. Flipping off the light she got under the covers and tried to fall asleep to no avail.

Shadow climbed out of his bed and stalked over to the edge of her queen sized bed before jumping up next to her. Pushing his way under her right arm he attempted to comfort her. She gave him a soft smile and rubbed his head soothing both of them. Her eyelids became heavy as she repeated the motion and were just about to close when someone knocked on the door.

"Mai?"

"Come in." she called allowing Naru to enter the room the light from the hall streaming in.

"Are you okay?" he asked walking over and sitting on the bed.

"I don't know." She answered continuing to pet Shadow who started purring.

"Is it Marsha?"

"Yeah." She replied.

"Mai, you-."

"I know all I can do is sit around and wait but that doesn't make it any easier." She said cutting him off. He'd been telling everyone the same thing after she'd been gone for three weeks.

"Then your aware how useless it is to you to worry, just know she's still very much alive." He reassured.

"I thought Gene couldn't feel anything because she closed off their link." She said sitting upright.

"She did but lately…it's been slipping." He confessed.

"And you're only telling me this now?" she demanded.

"Its not that often and only during when she'd be asleep so her powers are down regardless but it seems of late he's been feeling apprehensive and scared, almost like he's terrified."

"Was Shadow in the room?" she deadpanned.

"He wishes."

"Can he tell if she's hurt?"

"He can't tell. They disappear as quickly as they come."

"So she's purposely hiding her presence." Mai stated saddened as Shadow pushed his head into her side sensing her sorrow.

"Maybe, or she's afraid to put us in a danger." He said reassuringly.

"That sounds like her, trying to handle it by herself." She said.

"What I'm trying to say is don't worry about her too much. She's strong and is capable of handling things."

She stared at him dumbfounded for a moment and said,

"I think that's the first time I've ever heard you compliment someone without an insult."

He gave her a soft glare and she giggled leaning forward to kiss him lightly on the lips.

"Thank you Naru." She said.

"Your welcome." He said as he got up to leave.

She jumped forward and grabbed the sleeve of his work shirt. He turned to look at her and saw the conflicted emotions within her reflected through her eyes.

"Could…could you maybe…stay with me?" she asked quickly letting his sleeve go to look at the floor and blush one of her embarrassed blushes he loved so much.

He walked over to the door and she kept her head down thinking he was leaving but was pleasantly surprised as he closed the door and walked around to the other side of the bed. He unbuckled his pants and let them fall to the floor leaving him in his black shirt and boxers. Mai's blush grew darker and she directed her attention to the nightstand on her bedside as she turned her body away from him as he slipped in next to her.

Knowing how embarrassed she felt he leaned over and kissed the back of her head and whispered good night in her ear before turning on his side away from her and drifting into a peaceful rest. When she heard his even breath she turned over and moved up a little to look at his sleeping face. After a minute or so of staring she slid back down and got comfortable under the covers and drifting to sleep.

~Dream Sequence~

_She was surrounded in a pitch black world. She couldn't smell or taste anything, but she could feel. She felt something sharp like glass or a knife's edge running over her skin. It bit down into her thighs, stomach, chest, arms, and shoulders. She opened her mouth to scream from the pain of it. Then it was gone. _

_It was then replaced with the feeling of nails being driven into her arms and legs followed by the yanking of her finger nails as though they were being torn off one by one. Her mouth was opened wide as teeth were pulled. Like before it lasted a few minutes before disappearing. _

_Next she found hard mallets smashing her knee caps, elbows, and pelvis. She was crying from the pain that filled every nerve in her system. Then she found her head being dunked underwater and held there as she fought to breath before being pulled out for breath and being pushed back under. _

_Next she was hanging upside down and she could feel whips slashing into her skin cutting her and the wounds bled down her body into her mouth, nose, and eyes. Her world was burned crimson and all she felt was pain. _

_In the next moment she was dropped to the ground where she laid waiting for what would come next. When nothing did she sat up and looked around. It was still a large black abyss with no end and no beginning. _

_Getting to her feet she turned all around looking everywhere trying to find some way out of the hell she was experiencing. Picking a random direction she ran. She only made it a few feet before her hands and feet spread apart and bound with invisible chains as a cacophony of voices descended on her ears. _

"_We're going to kill you one by one." "Let go!" "Don't hurt her!" "Mom!" "Run away!" "Get out of here!" "Hide!" "Don't look back!" "Dad!" "Why are you doing this to us?"_

"_NO!"_

The scream echoed in her head as she sat up screaming for the voices to stop. The door busted open with Lin and Gene rushing in. Naru was up next to her rubbing her back as she panted trying to control her senses. Shadow was up on her shoulders licking her cheek in hopes of calming her down.

_That scream…it sounded like Marsha. _

"Mai?" Naru asked.

"I was dreaming." She said bringing her hand to cover her eyes as a few tears trickled out.

He took her hand and squeezed it as she sobbed. She could still feel the pain running under her skin like fire following a trail of oil it passed through but eventually burned out. When she finally stopped crying she was being cradled in Naru's arms as he calmed her further.

Her hand was fisted in his shirt so she rapidly let it go and just let him hold her.

"Did you two do the nasty in my bed?" Gene asked.

Mai became flustered and was off Naru, in the bathroom, and turning on the shower in the next minute.

"Gene." Lin said.

"She wasn't crying and seemed pretty calm to me."

"That's not what you should be worried about." Lin said stepping out of the room with the eldest twin staring after him questionably.

That's when he felt a cold breeze hit his back as two holes were starting to be dug into the back of his skull. He turned around and about shit a brick when he saw the look on his brother's face.

"C-come on now, i-it was a fair question." He stuttered as he inched toward the door.

As his brother advanced him he found the knob and was running for his life as Naru walked after him. Of course using his PK power he threw plenty of roadblocks in his brother's path until he could finally catch him.

(^_^)

Mai opened the door of the bathroom a crack and looked out. Finding no boys in sight she entered the bedroom with the bathrooms steam rolling in after her. The towel was wrapped around her body as Shadow wove his way around her ankles. She felt the cold prick at her flesh to create goose bumps as she rushed to find clothes. After ten minutes she finally picked out a pair of blue jeggings, a black t-shirt that said, I see dead people, over a white long sleeved shirt, and black converse high tops.

Picking up her coat from where she tossed it yesterday she tromped down the stairs with Shadow following after her. Walking to the dining table she found the boys doing their usual morning routine. Lin was drinking coffee and eating a bagel while reading the newspaper. Naru was drinking tea and eating toast spread with some jam. Gene was-

"Gene, what happened to your face!" she yelled panicked.

The boy had a black eye and a band aid on his cheek, his lip was split, his nose read, and his head had some ace bandages wrapped around it.

"Oh nothing, I just…fell! Yeah I fell." He said.

"Into what?"

"More like into whom." Lin muttered as Naru gave a small smile.

"Oh just an open door, don't worry about it I'll be fi-." He was cut off as a look of pure terror spread across his face.

Dropping his glass of orange juice that shattered on the floor he fell to his knees as he gripped the table.

"Gene." Naru said panicked and going to his brother as Lin stood up.

"It's Marsha." He said in between breaths the after effects leaving him stationary and breathless.

"Is she alright?" Mai asked.

"I don't know…she blocks the link sooner than I can determine where the fears coming from." He said as his brother helped him up.

"How hard can it be to tell?" she demanded.

"It can be any number of things. She's gotten this terrified before when it dealt with family…heck she's done it just when you were in trouble." He said.

"Oh…" she said feeling bad.

Of course she loved Marsha like she was a sister but she couldn't imagine how Gene felt. He loved her, though he hadn't openly admitted it, and it must be killing him knowing she was this scared. Going into the kitchen she grabbed some bread and threw it into the toaster. As she waited she got Shadow's breakfast together and put it on the floor. The cat raced in running over Gene's foot making the boy scream and jump up onto a chair.

"Nice job Gene. Were you trying to sound like a girl?" Naru teased.

"Shut up. Shadow actually _likes_ you." Gene said as he huddled on the couch as Shadow ate his food contently.

Mai shook her head, yes Gene and Shadow refused to get along with each other or at least Gene refused to. She munched on her toast as Shadow finished eating and walked over to the stool where Gene was perched and looked up the boy. He began to circle his way in and around the stool before getting on his hind paws and placing them on one of the stool's bars in an attempt to get closer to Gene who shied away and was very near falling off the chair.

"Gene." Naru said.

"What?" he asked.

"Either man up and get off the chair or put on a skirt." He said to his brother.

"Pull out the skirt because I don't think he's ready to stop being afraid of the cat." Mai said as she grabbed Shadow's dish to wash along with hers and the boys'.

"Gene can you put aside your fear of the cat long enough to get your coat and shoes. We have to get to work." Lin said as he and Naru already had theirs on.

"Not until I know that devil cat isn't going to jump on me." He said.

Mai rolled her eyes and lifted Shadow into her arms. Gene scrambled off the chair slipped on his shoes and grabbed his jacket. Mai took that time to analyze the two brothers and saw that what people meant when they say your sense of style is sense of self.

Naru was dressed in his usual black shirt, slacks, and shoes. Gene wore his own pair of blue jeans, a red graphic t-shirt, and matching black converse. She smiled at them and followed them out to the car.

Once they got to the office Gene ran to the back room so he could close himself away as Mai put the cat down. The three rolled their eyes and parted ways. Mai sat at her desk and opened one of the files to read it over. After about an hour a bell jingled signaling the door was open. She perked her head up and saw the rest of the team walking through the door.

"There's my favorite girl!" Monk said as he walked over and pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

She was just starting having trouble breathing when Ayako smacked him over the head.

"You said you'd give her a hug not squeeze her to death!"

"I was just about to let go for your information."

"No you weren't! You looked like a pedophile that was going to wait until she passed out before you tossed her in the back of your van!"

"What? You crazy old hag! Why would I do that to Mai?"

"Did you just call me an old hag?"

As the two continued to bicker, Masako, Yasu, and John took the seats closest to Mai's desk. The air was filled with nothing but the fighting until Yasu spoke up and asked,

"Any word from Marsha?"

The two quickly stopped fighting and turned to her expectantly for an answer.

"No still nothing." Mai said as the feelings from the other day resurfaced and the silence resumed only broken by Shadow's meow as he padded around in confusion not knowing who to comfort.

"Guys I think we're sending Shadow into a panic." John said as he offered his hand out to the cat, who butted it with his wet nose and licked it with his ruff tongue.

"Alright…I'm going to go make some tea." Mai said getting up and forcing a small smile onto her face as she went to the kitchenette.

As the tea brewed she leaned on the counter her head resting in the palm of her left hand. She felt fur wrap itself around her ankles and looked down to see Shadow looking up at her expectantly. Reaching down she picked him up and placed him around her shoulders like he would sit on Marsha's as the tea finished.

Carrying the tray out to her friends she set it down and the phone rang.

"Lin, Naru, Gene, tea!" she called as she walked to the phone.

"Hello?" she answered not bothering to check the caller ID.

"Hey Mai, nice to hear your voice again."


	2. Chapter 2

Mai nearly dropped the phone from her hand but opted to grab the table instead.

"Mai? Hello?" the voice on the other line asked.

"M-Marsha?" she whispered hopefully, the different emotions welling up inside her.

"Oh, good you're still with me." She said and Mai could just picture her friend smirking on the other end of the phone.

"Mai, who's on the phone?" Naru asked as everyone in the office stared at her.

"It's Marsha!" she said lifting her head up with a smile as tears rolled down her face.

Everyone jumped up and rushed over to the desk. Naru had the sense to get there first, remove the phone from Mai's hand and put it on speaker. A bombardment of questions surrounding: Where are you? Are you okay? Why haven't you called? Were asked for the next five minutes before finally annoyed Gene said,

"Will you all shut up? She can't answer you if you keep asking her questions one after the other."

The room became quiet as Marsha finally spoke,

"Thank you Gene. Now before I get yelled at again let me explain why I haven't been able to contact you. As you know I left my phone behind because when I as originally leaving I was attempting to flee and forgot to take it with me before I left. Now when I got to America I missed my connecting flight and spent most of the money I had booking my next flight. Finally arriving at the San Francisco International Airport I only had enough to pay for a few nights in a really cheap motel and found a job that I've been working since I got here so I could buy the cheapest phone available to call you guys and here we are." She said.

"That's some adventure." Yasu said.

"It's no excuse! You could've sent an email or a letter or something!" Ayako said.

"Ayako's right, we were worried sick about you." Monk said.

"I know, I know I'm sorry." She apologized.

"Just don't let it happen again." Ayako said.

"Okay." She said.

"Are you okay?" Gene asked next.

"I'm alright but…I need your help." She said.

"What kind of help?" Naru asked.

"Like an exorcism is needed kind of help."

Mai found that peculiar so she asked,

"Where are you staying again?"

"The San Francisco Orphanage, you know where they put me after finding me."

"And how long have you been there?" Monk asked.

"About a week, all the building does is creak and moan in the night like all the places here and then a bad thing happened."

"And this bad thing would be?"

"The nearly fatal push down the stairs of a four year old boy." She said.

"And you're calling us now?" Gene asked a little angrily.

"I didn't know the house was haunted until today. Ms. Terri told me it's been going on ever since I up and left but it would just make doors open and shut, move things around, and break something's. This is the first time where someone's actually been hurt."

"Has anything else happened?"

"Well when I talked about getting the kids out a vase was shattered into the wall next to me."

"What!" Gene yelled.

"Gene I said next to me. I'm perfectly fine but there's no way I can handle this by myself and we can't get the kids out. I don't want to enrage the thing more than I have to."

"How soon do you want us to get there?" Naru asked.

"The soonest you can."

There was a crash that echoed through the phone.

"Gotta go."

"Wait-."

She hung up; they sat in silence for a minute before Naru stood up and barked out an order,

"Lin book tickets for all of us on the next flight to San Francisco. Gene get directions from there to the orphanage she spoke about. Everyone else go home and pack up your things. Mai will call to tell you when to get there."

With that the room cleared out and Lin was off to book flights and Gene to get directions leaving Mai and Naru alone.

"Naru?" she asked and found herself in his embrace.

She gripped onto him hard as the water works started again. She'd been worried about her for three months and now that she'd called she felt relieved but that crash in the background brought the worry back.

"It's alright with any luck we'll be there in the morning to help."

"But what if something happens between now and then?" she asked sniffing a bit.

"Marsha's a fighter you should know that better than any of us."

"But she doesn't have her powers! They were revoked and we don't even know if she's regained any."

"Your worries about that are justified but she can still make potions and write spells. She can keep everyone safe."

"But for how long?"

They were interrupted by the simultaneous opening of doors.

"I've got flights booked for the 10 pm flight to San Francisco." Lin said glancing at the clock showed that it was only 1 pm.

"And I've got directions and address of the orphanage."

"Lets get home and pack everything." He said.

The four grabbed their coats and locked up the office. The drive home was cut short by ten minutes, they had to not only stop at their place and get their things but also go to Mai's and Marsha's apartment after Mai mentioned she wanted to pick some things up.

Leaving the boys and cat in the car she went up the stairs and entered the apartment. Shutting the door quickly she rummaged around and pulled out two small suitcases and took one to her room to put in a few more of her things. Entering Marsha's room she left them both open on the bed and rummaged through Marsha's things. Most of it was clothes but she also put in a few things that Marsha had left behind that she may have wanted after three months of being in America.

She had just opened the door and was met with Naru's fist knock on her head.

"Mai!" he said in slight surprise.

"It's okay. Mind helping me?" she asked handing him a bag.

Locking the door they went back to the car to find Gene was standing outside and upon looking in his seat saw that Shadow had worked his way into it and had made himself comfortable.

"Really?" Naru asked.

"Shut up."

After they finished loading the car up they were off to the airport. They arrived at eight and waited for the others so they could all check in together. By the time they were all checked in and waiting for their flight it was 9 o'clock and most had left to get food leaving Gene and Mai to watch the bags. Gene was staring at the unusually large tote to Mai's right cautiously as a black tail emerged from it and he recoiled.

"Shadow, hide your tail." Mai said and it was quickly put back in the bag as she looked back up at Gene.

"Are you really that scared of him?"

"Him? Course not. His teeth and claws, now those are terrifying." He said.

"Oh stop being such a baby, if he stays with Marsha you're going to have to get along with him." She reminded.

"Tell that to him, when she's around he acts like a saint when she's gone he's the devil." He claimed.

"There's just no getting though to you is there?"

"Not until you all believe he has something against me."

The two dropped it for the moment as there friends came back with food.

"Yasu do you mind sitting with Shadow?"

"Sure Mai." He said with a smile.

Turning to look at Gene he asked,

"So Gene, still afraid of the cat I see."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi! I know I've been away for ages I'm sorry I've neither had the time or creativity to get a new chapter out there. But you got to love summer don't ya? So I hope you enjoy. **

The ten hour flight to America was spent sleeping, eating, reading, chitchatting, and other activities to keep themselves occupied until they landed. Now they sat outside the car rental service waiting for Lin to show up with the keys to their rental car.

"Should we have called Marsha?" Masako asked. She was wearing a turquoise kimono with white and pink sakura petals and brown branches.

"She didn't leave us a number." Mai reminded as she patted Shadow who purred contently. She was wearing a light purple spaghetti strap sundress with a floral pattern beneath a light blue cardigan and matching light purple strapped wedges.

"And we magically know which orphanage is?" the girl countered.

"It's surprising that there's only one orphanage here that's called the 'San Francisco Orphanage'." Gene said stopping the two from starting a squabble. He was wearing a gray short sleeved button up plaid shirt with dark jeans and grey shoes.

"Makes you wonder what's there, doesn't it?" Monk asked. He was wearing a black ACDC shirt with jeans and black Nike sneakers.

"The name doesn't sound ominous." Ayako said. She was wearing a yellow dress with a brown business suit jacket and matching boots.

"Bou-san save me it sounds scary!" Yasu said jumping up and trying to latch himself to the man. He wore a simple grey t-shirt and jeans with gray sneakers.

"No, don't touch me!" he cried jumping out of the way.

"But Bou-san." He whined.

"Stay away from me you freak!"

As Monk ran away from the college student the others were could barely keep their laughter contained.

"What exactly is going on out here?" Naru asked coming outside with Lin. Both were dressed in their usual attire.

"Lighten up Naru. They're just messing around." John spoke up. He was wearing a pair of jeans with white sneakers and a plain white tee.

"It's time to go." He said as he took his and Mai's bags before taking her hand.

Quickly rounding up the rest of their belongings they followed after them. Reaching the car they found it to be a large black van that could seat ten. After getting all the bags to fit in the thing they were buckled in and on the road. They stopped for lunch and a bathroom break before arriving at the orphanage at 1 in the afternoon.

They were greeted with sirens flashing as an ambulance had a gurney loaded in. Swiftly parking the car they got out and stood in the crowd.

"_Did you hear? This one hit his head on the corner of some furniture_." A person in the crowd said.

"_No way, first the little girl fell down the stairs and now this? You know it all started after she came back_." another muttered.

"_Course, weird things always happen when she's around. Remember what happened six months before she left?_"

"_Who could forget? She was muttering something about how she didn't mean to or whatever and some other nonsense like the glass breaking happened magically._"

"_Like that could happen._"

They looked around as a woman with red hair came out of the home with a bag on her shoulder. A girl about eight and a boy around five stumbled out after her. The red head jumped inside ignoring the two. The doors were closed behind her and the ambulance rushed off. A dark haired, brown skinned woman came out of the home next to collect the two kids. They wouldn't budge so she kneeled down to comfort them.

The crowd began to disperse and they walked over to her. The two children were crying and she was trying to calm them down. The little boy was sobbing hard and tore away from the woman and ran straight into Gene.

"_Whoa_," he said leaning down to get eye level with him, "_might want to look where you're going there buddy_."

The tears welled up in the corners of the child's eyes before he threw his arms around Gene's neck as he cried. Gene sighed and resigned himself to soothe the child.

"_Hi we're SPR. Marsha called._" Naru introduced.

"_Oh she's not here at the moment…but please come in._" the woman said before looking at Gene.

"_Are you-?_"

"_I got him don't worry._" He answered lifting the boy up.

They followed her inside and shut the door.

"_I'm Ms. Rosario, my partners are Ms. Terri and Ms. Blackheart. Ms. Blackheart just left in the ambulance and Ms. Terri went into town to pick up a few things._" She explained.

"_Yes…what happened if you don't mind me asking?_"

"_I don't want to if you don't mind. I'd rather wait for Marsha to come back._" She answered.

"_Then we will wait._" He said.

"_Would you mind waiting in the back?_" she asked as the kids continued crying.

"_Shouldn't they stay inside?_"

"_No, no we need to let them play in the back yard during the day._" She said.

Gene had been translating for them and they found her wording a little strange.

"_Than let's all go out back._" Naru said.

They all nodded and followed her out the back door. Exiting onto the patio they looked out at all the other kids who had worried looks on their faces.

"_It is okay everyone. Noah is on his way to the hospital with Ms. Blackheart and we'll hear from them when his condition gets better. Go back to playing._" She said.

They did so reluctantly as Ms. Rosario took the boy from Gene and set down with them as she watched the group of kids.

"Okay…now is anyone getting the vibe?" Monk asked.

"I didn't feel anything, but she thinks something is going on." Masako said.

"She was wording things pretty carefully." Ayako noted.

"Marsha did say when she suggested moving the kids out of the house a vase was smashed into a wall." John reminded.

"That's right… could the kids be hostages?" Mai suggested.

"Marsha _is_ a sucker for innocents." Gene stated.

"If Mai's right than this thing knows her." Lin pointed out.

"It's still speculation but if that's true than whatever this is. It's after her." Naru said.

"Question then would be why." Gene said.

Things were quiet before a child came up and poked Naru.

"_Are you Marsha's boyfriend?_" she asked.

"_No, I'm her boyfriend's twin. He's her boyfriend._" He said.

Before Gene could say anything to him the girl came over to him.

"_So you're her boyfriend?_" she asked.

"_Yes, I am._ _Do you mind telling me how she's been?_"

"_She's been okay I suppose. She's only been around for a week._"

"_Then can you tell me what she's been up too?_" he asked.

"_Well…she's always here when we go to sleep but I don't think she spends the night._"

"_Why do you say that?_"

"_Because the next morning she always comes in through the front door._"

"_Okay, what else can you tell me?_"

"_Um…she spends most of her time with us but sometimes, like today for example, she leaves for a few hours. On Tuesday she came back with black stuff on her fingers and a bandage on her arm._"

"_Do you know why?_"

The girl shook her head with a small frown. He smiled at her and ruffled her hair before asking,

"_Is that all you can tell me about her?_"

"_She talks about you a lot._" She said perking up slightly.

"_Really and what does she tell you all about me?_" he asked with a cocky grin on his features.

"_Funny things. Like…that time you tripped into a fountain._" She said and Gene's face turned a little pink.

"_Is…is that so?_"

"_Yep._"

"_Alright, why don't you go back to playing with the others?_"

She pouted at being shooed away but did as asked and went over to the other children.

"So what do we know?" Monk asked.

"I didn't ask about the case here." Gene said.

"What? Why not?" Ayako asked.

"If we're right and this thing is using the kids as hostages we don't need to go around putting targets on their backs." Naru explained before Gene could.

"Exactly, so I asked about Marsha."

"Well, what'd you find out?" Mai urged.

"That she lied about staying here. She may have called us from here the other night but according to the girl she doesn't spend the night here. She was also gone Tuesday and came back with black stuff on her fingers and a bandage on her arm." He said.

"You don't think she was demon fighting do you?" Ayako asked.

"It's possible." Gene said.

"No way. Fighting demons is messy she wouldn't come back with only black fingers." Mai said.

"Than what else could she have been doing?" John asked.

They were all quiet as they mused. Monk turned to Naru and said,

"Any bright idea's Dr. Oliver?"

"Sorry but there are too many possibilities. We'd need more information to know." He answered.

"Guess there's nothing else to do but wait."

And wait they did. For five hours. Finally Ms. Rosa asked if they'd like to leave and set up wherever they would be staying. They agreed and left her their number and requested she call them when she knew where Marsha could be found.

On the ride over to the hotel Mai was staring out the window when she realized Shadow wasn't with them.

"Oh know!"

The car having been quiet to that point made everyone jump slightly.

"Jesus Mai. What's wrong?" Monk asked.

"Shadow. Where is he?" she asked.

"I…I…oh know." Monk said as everyone came to the same realization.

"Are you serious? We lost Shadow?" Gene asked.

"Why aren't you jumping for joy?" Masako questioned.

"I may hate that cat but Marsha loves him." Gene reminded.

"If you'd all calm down for a minute you'd realize that we haven't seen him since we got off the plane." Naru stated.

"Not helping!" Mai snapped.

"Let me finish. The first time we met Shadow he was wreaking havoc in an airport to get to Marsha remember?" he asked.

"Yeah, but what's that got to do with anything?" Ayako snapped.

"Oh I get it." Yasu said hitting his fist into his hand.

"What do you get?" John asked.

"Shadow must be able to sense where Marsha is and as a result he went off to find her when we landed."

"And with any luck that stupid cat found her already. Damn." Gene cursed.

"Well there is one good thing about this." Lin said.

"And what is that?" Masako asked.

"We won't have to worry about Gene getting scared of Shadow."

"Ha, ha. Hilarious!" he said as everyone else started chuckling and snickering.


	4. Chapter 4

That Night

They had gotten a total of three rooms at the hotel. The girls took one and the guys split the other two. Each room had two queen beds and a pull out couch. In the girls room Masako and Ayako took the beds while Mai took the couch. In the room connected to theirs was Monk, John and Yasu and the room connected to that held Naru, Gene, and Lin. After everyone had dinner and spent hours waiting up in hopes of a call from the Orphanage.

By 11 p.m. everyone had retired.

~Mai's Dream~

_Instead of a pitch black world this time she felt like she was looking through a black and white filter but there weren't any distinct shapes. It was dark except for the flickering of some sort of light on the opposite side of the room. Moving her wrists slightly she felt that the chains that held her there and the same ones around her ankles. _

_She breathed in the scent of mildew, and smoke. There was also the smell of rotting meat and she felt her stomach clench at it. She opened her mouth and coughed at it. That was the last thing she felt before the previous dreams torture started anew. _

_Accept this time she was taken from her chains and carried to the light side of the room. She was shackled down again as two blobs got to work with the torture. She tried to scream and shout but all she was met with were screams that weren't hers and shouts that weren't hers either. _

_When the torture ceased she was back on the wall and her body was in so much pain. Everything began to fade to black as the chains fell away and the voices returned._

"_This one's next." "Christopher!" "Leave him alone!" "Please, please stop it!" "No daddy!" "Please just let them go." "You won't get away with this." "Let her go. Please just let her go."_

"_NO!"_

She woke up screaming again and slammed her hands over her ears. Her body was coated in a cold sweat. The lights flipped on and she felt warmth at her back. Red hair fell into her peripheral vision as she breathed in and out deeply. Masako crossed by her vision and opened the door to whoever was pounding on it. Monk stumbled in followed closely by Yasu and John. Thankfully they had cleared the door by the time Naru, Gene, and Lin came through it.

Mai was still hyperventilating despite Ayako's soothing.

The screams…why does it sound so much like Marsha?

She didn't get to dwell on that fact for long as someone removed her hands from her ears. Wrapping their arms around her body as they crossed her arms in front of her they whispered in her ear,

"Calm down, it's all okay. You're safe."

Her hyperventilating stopped and the tears welled up in her eyes. As she began crying she turned around in Naru's embrace and put her head on his shoulder. He sighed and just rubbed her back as she tried to tell them what she saw.

"It was…it was terrible."

Everyone settled in and found comfortable positions to wait in as she told them her dream.

"I…I was being tortured. There were knives…and…and mallets. I think…I think that…that they tried to dr-drown me." She said.

Gene and Naru winced, having both felt the pain of being unable to breath.

"And then…then there was screaming. Terrible, terrible screaming."

"What were they screaming?" Naru asked.

"They were begging, begging to be let go and to leave people alone. Begging for their lives." She sobbed out when something snapped.

"Marsha…" she started quietly but lost her train of thought.

"Marsha?" Gene asked perking her head up.

"Mai, what about Marsha?"

"She was there…sort of. I thought…thought I heard her." she said.

"What did you hear exactly?" Monk asked.

"Someone was shouting 'No!'. They were…so sad when they yelled it, but also in pain." She said.

"And it sounded like Marsha?"

"Yes, but there was something," she said trying to remember the exact qualities the voice had, "something about it that sounded like a child."

"So there's a possibility it wasn't Marsha you heard." Naru said.

"I don't know. The girl has a pretty distinct voice." Yasu said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gene snapped.

"Nothing." Yasu said with a smirk.

"Not that your conversation isn't invigorating. But it's 3 a.m. Can we please go back to bed?" Ayako asked.

"Sleep sounds pretty good actually." Mai said.

"Alright, see you in the morning." He said kissing her head.

"Good night."

~The Next Morning~

After eating breakfast they all got into the car and went back to the orphanage to start investigating on their own. Reaching the home they knocked on the front door and a woman in her late forties with curly blonde/gray hair answered it. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a tight button up light blue shirt.

"_You must be SPR._" She said giving them a smile.

"And one of you must be Marsha's boyfriend." She said giving both boys a look.

Gene felt a chill run up his spine as Naru stood there calmly. Naru was still wearing his usual attire of black and Gene had blue jeans and a red t-shirt with matching red converse.

"_Yes we are ma'am and I am that boyfriend._" Gene explained and was smacked on the head.

"_Never call me ma'am._"

"_Yes…Ms?_"

"_Name's Terri._"

"_Than Ms. Terri, has Marsha made an appearance?_" Naru asked as his brother continued to nurse his sore head.

"_I'm afraid not she didn't come back yesterday and by now she's usually here._" She explained.

"_The children are out back?_"

"_Yeah, Rosa's got 'em._"

"_I hope it's not too much to ask but we'd like to start investigating._" Naru said.

"_Not at all. We'll be outside if you need anything._" She said before turning her back and leaving with the door open

Once she was gone Yasu spoke up,

"Though I have no idea what she said, I think this woman's her role model."

"If you knew what she said, you'd think they were family." Gene said as they entered the house.

"Since there are so many kids I don't think it'd be a great idea to set up cameras. Even if they're only in here after dark they could still knock it over."

"So we won't be able to see anything that happens. Great." Monk said. Today he sported dark pants and boots with a white t-shirt.

"For now we'll break up into teams and do a walk through of the whole house." Naru continued.

"Masako, Ayako. You two will start up stairs. Monk, Yasu, John, and Mai you'll cover this floor. Naru, Lin, and I will look around the basement." Gene said.

"Right." They said and broke off to start looking around.

Since they had only gone through the house once they didn't realize how big it really was.

"Why's this house so big?" Monk groaned as they walked down the hall.

"Feels kinda like that Urado case, you know except that it's…not built weird." Yasu observed. He was wearing a green button up with light pants and black loafers.

"And hopefully there's no dead people coming out of bath tubs full of blood." Mai said shivering at the memory. Today Mai was sporting a red t shirt with a black skirt that made it to the middle of her thigh and she had black combat boots that made it halfway up her calf.

"Really wish we'd had Marsha then." John said. He was wearing tan shorts and a green t-shirt with black shoes.

"Yeah, but she probably would've said the same thing Naru did. Burn the damn thing."

"She might have added salt to the mix just to be sure that everything staid gone." Mai said as she opened the door to the next room and gasped.

"Mai what is-oh dear lord." John gasped.

Inside the room was nothing but destruction. Furniture was turned over on its side. The window was shattered. Wood was splintered, and glass had been broken every wear. Feathers lay about from pillows that had been torn in the room.

"What happened in here?" Monk asked looking at the wreck.

"The ambulance from yesterday," Mai remembered, "whoever got hurt it happened in here."

"You're probably right." Monk said leaning over and shutting the door. "So let's just leave it for now. When Marsha finally gets back she may be able to get a premonition."

"Right." They said together.

After forty-five minutes they were almost done and had entered a room when Mai heard something. Leaving them to figure out what it was she found herself in the kitchen where a child was ran sacking one of the cupboards.

"Hey, you shouldn't be in here." She said.

He turned around startled at her when she remembered he couldn't understand a word she said.

She sighed and began walking over to him. Just as she finished crossing the threshold the doors of the room slammed shut. Stopping where she stood she looked around trying to identify if there was something in there. She heard rattling and a yelp.

Turning around she saw the draws were opening up and forks, spoons, and knives were coming out of them and that the kid had fallen back. The cutlery pointed itself at the kid and flew towards him. Mai raced forward and pulled him back as it embedded itself into the linoleum floors beneath them.

"Mai! Mai, are you in there!" Monk yelled from outside banging on the door.

"Monk help!" she yelled putting herself with her back up to the cabinet.

The silverware tore itself from the floor and floated around for a minute, like it was locating its target. With the boy still in her arms it flew at them and she moved allowing it to embed itself in a cabinet.

"Monk, hurry up!" she screamed as she tried running to the other side of the room.

But as clumsy as Mai is she tripped over her own feet and fell. The small boy was terrified judging by the way he clung to her. Sitting up she saw the utensils flying at them, and this time there was no escaping. Turning to shield the child she shut her eyes and waited for impact.

When something did come in contact with her it wasn't what she expected as she was shoved onto the floor. She heard the cutlery clatter to the floor and the thing above her get up.

"Jesus Christ, I'm gone for a day an' a half and look at what happens."

Mai's eyes widened. She'd know that voice anywhere. Turning around she looked up at the girl standing there.

"Good to see you again Mai."


	5. Chapter 5

The person who had just saved her stood before her wearing black skinny jeans with black high top converse. A white t-shirt beneath a small black vest, on her forearms was a pair of black and white striped fingerless gloves. In her ears were skull hoop earrings and around her neck was a mini skull necklace. Her fingers were painted red and she had mascara and eye liner on her face. Her hair was three quarters of the way down her back and she'd added a deep dark blue streak to her hair on the right side of her face and had dark purple undertones. Over her shoulder was a black cloth hobo bag. But the unmistakable blue eyes staring at her told her all she needed to know.

"Marsha!" she yelled jumping up and hugging the girl.

"Hey." She said hugging back.

They held the embrace each not wanting to let go for a few short seconds. Pulling away Mai quickly raised her fist and punched her in the upper right arm.

"Ow."

"That was for disappearing for three months!"

"Alright I guess I deserved that." She said before turning to the little boy.

"_You may want to run outside now._"

He wasted no time and left pretty quickly. When he was gone the door Monk had been banging at broke open and he tumbled in along with Lin and Naru.

"Mai, what's going-Marsha?" Yasu asked poking his head in.

"Marsha!" Monk yelled jumping up.

"Uh…hi guys."

Mai moved out of the way as Monk, Yasu, and Ayako ambushed the girl in a bone crushing hug. After a full minute Marsha began turning blue.

"Guys."

"Hm?"

"I don't think she can breathe."

They quickly let her go apologizing.

"I should be the one giving apologies. I've been gone for three months." She said walking over to John.

"Nice to see you." He said.

"Good to see you too." She said giving him a quick hug before moving onto Masako.

"How're you?" she asked with a small bow.

"Fine, thank you." Masako said bowing back.

"Hiya, Lin." She said offering her hand knowing he wasn't one for such affection.

He took it and pulled her in for a quick hug and let her go without saying a word. She smiled big and looked at Naru.

"What's up boss?"

"You've been skipping too much work so you're pays going to be docked."

"I missed you too." She said dryly.

"Guys, I looked everywhere for another way in but-." Gene cut himself off from where he stood in the door when he caught sight of her.

Things became quiet as the two stared at each other trying to find words. Gene made the first move; he marched over and pulled her into his embrace to give her a searing kiss. Her eyes closed and her hands slid their way around his neck while his found themselves around her waist. When they broke apart she whispered,

"That was one hell of a hello."

He smiled and kissed her again this time with a little more vigor. When they broke apart this time they just smiled and leaned in a third but were stopped by,

"Marsha, what do you know about the thing haunting this building?"

"Way to effectively kill the mood Naru." Marsha said glaring at him.

**Yeah, way to go Noll. **

*You two can make up later*

**Ya sure you don't mean make out? **

Mai groaned and rubbed her temple. She hadn't told the twins yet that she could hear them. So she'd sat through plenty of banter like this before and she really needed to come clean. All this eaves dropping was making her feel…dirty, in more ways then one.

Boys' you're doing it again

Mai sighed and sent Marsha a look of gratitude for her stopping the pair before it got worse.

"Right, I'm sorry. How are you?" Gene asked.

"I'm just fine. But we can catch up later." She said while looking around.

"Okay first things first. I have to ask what happened here yesterday." She said.

Taking Gene's hand she walked out of the kitchen and they all followed her to the back yard. The moment they stepped outside there was a chorus of, "_Marsha!_"

"_Hi, guys I'm back." _She said to the kids._ "But if you'll excuse me I need to talk to the adults._"

They all pouted in disappointment and went back to their games except three. One was the boy who was just attacked and the other two were the kids they had first met yesterday. They followed them over to Ms. Rosa and Ms. T.

"_Ms. Rosa, Ms. T._" she greeted walking over.

"_Ah, you're back. I see you found your friends._" Ms. T pointed out.

"_Yes, they were here yesterday as well._" Ms. Rosa added.

"_Seriously?_" she asked before turning to them.

"Didn't think you'd guys' get here that quickly."

"You underestimate our abilities." Gene chuckled.

"Shut up. _So what happened here yesterday?_" she asked.

"_Noah snuck in._" Ms. T explained.

"_Crap, which room?_"

"_The sitting room._"

"_I'll go check it out._" She said turning around and looking down to see the three kids looking up at her.

"_By the way, this one snuck into the kitchen a few minutes ago. My friend Mai over there got trapped with him._" She said sending the boy over to the adults for a scolding or something.

Kneeling down she looked at the two kids who looked back at her with hope in their eyes.

"_You must be Noah's little brother and sister._" She stated.

They nodded.

"_I can promise you that we'll get whatever did this to him. And he'll be back to you before you know it._"

The kids threw themselves at her and started spilling out thank yous. She put a hand on their backs and they all saw the faint blue glow. It was the one she'd use when Mai had a terrible nightmare like the one last night.

"_Now go play with the other kids and remember you listen to Ms. Rosa and Ms. T._"

The two nodded and ran back to the other kids.

"So you ready to get this investigation started?" she asked looking at them.

"We're here aren't we?" Ayako snapped.

"Alright, come on I've got to get to that sitting room." She said waving them to the house.

She led them to the room that Mai, Monk, Yasu, and John had discovered earlier and she stepped in. She gasped and her eyes shut instantaneously as the premonition hit her. They waited for her to come out of it and she did with a shutter.

"Poor Noah."

"So what happened?" Monk asked.

"Come in and I'll tell you." She said waving them in.

Once everyone was inside the room they were shocked as she slammed the door close with her magic. Reaching into her bag she pulled out four crystals which she quickly orbed around the room. Connecting to one another it formed a barrier around them.

"Marsha, why are we in a crystal cage?" Gene asked as his girlfriend nudged a mauled pillow with her foot.

"Because whatever's here will hear us otherwise." She said.

"What are you saying?" Naru asked.

"That whatever's here listens. You really have to be careful what you say, unless you're out front." She explained further.

"So that was why Ms. Rosa was speaking so carefully." John said.

"Yes. If we're not careful than the kids get hurt." She said.

"So they are hostages." Mai said.

"Yeah, they're only attacked when they're alone except when they go to the bathroom."

"A supernatural being with manners…now that's something you don't hear everyday." Monk said.

"What about just now in the kitchen though?" Mai asked.

"I was surprised by that too." She said before putting a hand on Mai's shoulder.

"But there's something you have to understand. Ghosts and monsters are attracted to you like bees to flowers they just can't help themselves."

"Glad to see the only things that changed is your appearance." She deadpanned.

"So what has happened since you got here?" Naru asked.

"Including Noah, two kids have ended up in the hospital. The other one was pushed down the stairs five days ago." She explained.

"But you called us just three days ago." Ayako reminded

"I wasn't even here when it happened. I was out running a couple errands and when I got back an ambulance was rushing away."

"What happened after that?" Naru asked.

"I ran in to ask what happened. Course originally all they said was that he fell down the stairs, but once the kids had gone to bed Ms. Rosa and Ms. T told me what's been going on."

She took a breath before continuing.

"They said it happens on April 24th and July 22nd every year."

"And do you know if these specific dates mean anything?" Naru pressed.

"Only to me," she said, "those were the day's when I got here and when I left. Usually things broke unexpectedly or moved around. This was the first time someone's actually been harmed."

"Five days ago was July 28th." Lin said.

"The day I left." She said.

"And what about yesterday and today?"

"What do you think?" she responded.

"Seems you coming back must have has made this…thing lash out more." Naru said.

"You don't have to tell me. When they told me about this and asked for my help I asked about maybe moving the kids somewhere safer. Damn thing threw a vase." She cursed.

"You were attacked?!" Gene yelled.

"Threatened, it didn't actually hurt me so it was a threat." She clarified.

"So where'd the idea to keep the kids out back all day originate?" Masako asked.

"If you must know there's this boy running around here somewhere who thought it'd be of great assistance to me to find out where this thing attacks." She answered rubbing her temple at the memory.

Obviously this boy had given her quite the headache.

"Seriously?" Monk asked.

"Yeah, the dumb kid kept running into rooms by himself when he got the chance and he was attacked in every single one."

"How's he not in the hospital?"

"Because as dumb as he is to make himself live bait he at least had the sense to know I could get him out of danger. The only place he wasn't attacked was outside; kid was out there for almost an hour before I realized I hadn't had to save him." She explained.

"But it can still hear?"

"Yes, that's why you have to be careful about what you say. Even if the thing knows we keep them in the backyard all day to make sure it doesn't hurt them we don't want to say it in case it sets him off." She explained.

"So what happened when you called us? There was a crash and you hung up." Mai asked.

"Oh that? Calling you guys gave it a reason to break some more vases." She said.

"Near you!" Gene yelled.

"Yes, relax I'm fine." She said looking at him.

"So do you have any information on this house?" Naru asked.

"Can't say I do." She said.

"Than what have you been doing since the first attack?" Naru snapped.

"I had to handle a few other things." She said before opening her palms and calling the crystals back to her.

"What kind of things?" Gene asked.

"Things you don't need to concern yourself with. Now I've got to put this room back together." She said before closing her eyes and ticking through some imaginary list in her mind.

"Let the object of objection be returned so that its existence may be…reaffirmed."

They watched as a yellow light began pulsating over the room from where she was standing. It did this a few more times before the room was back to the way it should be. No broken furniture, shattered glass, or featherless pillows.

"Ah…much better." She said happy with her work.

"So you've been spell casting a lot have you?" Gene asked as he put an arm around her waist.

"Well I can't carry around a book that could double as an encyclopedia. I just have to make a poor rhyme and everything's okay." She said before something clicked in her head.

"That reminds me. Not all of you can speak English."

The look on her face told them exactly what she was about to do.

"English is what they need to know, give them the knowledge to let the words flow."

"We never said we wanted this!" Monk yelled at her speaking pure English that everyone could understand.

"Yeah, but we're going to be here a while and translating is exhausting." She said before leaving the room.

They followed her into the kitchen where she repeated the first spell and fixed the kitchen.

"Marsha." Mai said.

"Yes?"

"I thought your magic was supposed to be kept secret."

"It is."

"Than what are you going to tell them about the sitting room and the kitchen?"

"The same thing I tell a lot of people. It did it."

"And they believe you?"

"Ms. Rosa buys it."

"And our sudden ability to speak English?"

"Oh that's pretty simple, you all weren't comfortable speaking English until you actually spoke it." She answered.

"You just have an answer for everything don't you?"

"You know me so well." She said putting a hand on the girl's shoulder.

They heard a faint buzzing and Marsha reached into her bag and began shuffling things around in it. Finally pulling out a cheap cell she checked the number before putting it to her ear.

"Hello." She said.

They heard chattering on the other, to which she listened to intently and sighed,

"Uh…yeah, I can be there in a bit."

This didn't make the conversation partner to happy judging by her next sentence.

"Why now? Why not yesterday? Or better yet tomorrow?"

More words,

"I'm sorry but my family just-. No the ones from Japan. Yes."

Even more words,

"But can't I just…what about…could you please…hello?"

Pulling the phone back she noted that the call had been disconnected.

"Feel free to blow it to smithereens. I've got your real phone." Mai said holding it up.

"Thanks Mai." She said before throwing the contraption in the air and waving her hands she blew it to pieces.

"There now it looks much better." Ayako said kicking a piece that had landed near her earning a chuckle from most of them.

"So what was that about?" Monk asked as Mai handed the girl her cell.

She cringed and looked up at them with a small smile and said,

"Don't hate me. But I sorta have to go."

"What?" Gene asked upset.

"I'm really, truly sorry but it's extremely important." She said.

"To important to share?" Monk asked a little put off and hurt like everyone else.

"That's not it. Don't put words in my mouth." She defended.

"Than what's going on?" Mai asked concerned.

She looked Mai in the eye for a minute hers full of apology as she said,

"I can't tell you right now."

No one could come up with a suitable response.

"But I can tell you all tonight. I can probably find a good take out place and meet you wherever you're staying." She offered.

"Alright," Naru said as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.

Sliding a card out he put his wallet away and walked over to her.

"Use this to pay for the food and be at the hotel at 6 sharp. Mai or Gene will text you the address."

"Thanks." She said taking the card.

"If you want to learn more about the area around here I'm sure Ms. Rosa or Ms. T could direct you to a good library." She said.

They remembered that the beast was still listening and that they had to be careful about what they said.

"I'll keep that in mind." He said.

She nodded and turned to Gene. Leaning over she kissed him and he responded. Pulling away she reached up and touched his cheek.

"I'll see you later. Promise." She said.

He took her wrist and holding her hand in place kissed the inside of her palm. She smiled at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek before pulling her hand back.

"I'll be there at six don't worry."

And with that she left. Just as quickly as she had come she was gone again. They all stood about in silence before Lin cleared his throat.

"We'd better go ask about that library." Naru said.

The murmurs of 'yeah' and 'right' were said as they all began to shuffle out of the kitchen.

Just what was she doing?


End file.
